Monthly Archives: September 2016

Kenya, Travelinds, Travelinds Destinations

Two Days in Nairobi

September 2016

We had two days in Nairobi and wanted a fairly relaxed schedule.  This is what we did:

The Sheldrick Elephants

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust had us captivated from the first moment. The 11 o’clock feeding was surprisingly endearing, not commercial or money-grabbing, but educational and fascinating. It was wonderful to see the babies and their caretakers interacting. The love that goes into raising these orphans is amazing to behold.

This is a great initiative and needs loads of support to keep on going. I would recommend reading Dame Daphne Sheldrick’s memoirs (An African Love Story) for a deeper history on how this work came to be and the struggle to protect the Kenyan elephants.

The highlight of our trip was to go back (by appointment) and meet our little adoptee, Ambo (a ten-month old elephant rescued from Amboseli), put him to bed and meet his caretakers. Ambo is just one of many orphans at the Trust and we were happy to know that we have contributed something to his 24 litres of daily milk for the next three years, as well as the countless other costs of running an establishment of this nature.

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Keepers like Meshack, who has been here almost 30 years, love their jobs and their orphans.
Keepers like Meshack, who has been here almost 30 years, love their jobs and their orphans.

Thank you to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust team for all you do for these gentle giants, for Kenya, for Africa and for our children’s future with elephants and rhinos.

Giraffe Kisses

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Having watched the Giraffe Tea movie as a child (with the little girl who feeds baby giraffes), I had always wanted to meet these majestic creatures up close and see the famous Giraffe Manor Hotel. Taking a few hours, we headed over to the Giraffe Centre in Karen, Nairobi – The African Fund for Endangered Wildlife.

Cost: As at September 2016, it cost 1000 KSH per non-resident for feeding, viewing and trails for the day.

There were nine giraffe altogether, including two small babies that were too cute for words, and a pregnant mama who was grumpy (and HUNGRY) stealing all the other giraffe’s vantage point for pellets.  There are also warthogs and birds to see from the platform if the giraffe allow you a view around their enormous heads.  Like a horse, it has a long nose, almost the length of your entire upper body, so the Afrikaans word ‘kameelperd’ (camel horse) seemed strangely appropriate up close.

20160908_152843 20160908_125653Kissing the giraffe seemed unthinkable, but we were assured by giggling giraffe centre educators of the ‘antiseptic properties’ of their saliva and the kisses were indeed great fun to photograph (because only one half of Travelinds was brave enough to do it after watching a few people get plastered). A 45cm tongue is rather adept at twirling the pellet right out between your thumb and forefinger and the head butts signal a demand for more!

20160908_143051It was a hugely entertaining, and most of all educational visit, where we learnt about the subspecies of giraffe in Africa and how to identify them.  Before this, we were not even aware that we had seen different types of giraffe (Masaai with splotches, Rothschild with white legs and  the Southern Giraffe which we have in South Africa).

Nairobi National Park

This was a fun day out, twelve hours of driving around, picnicking, watching animals and enjoying nature. We arrived at sunrise, paid the exorbitant non-resident fees, and within the first minute of our drive through the gate saw a huge male lion walking in the road, roaring his head off and looking right into our car window. Wow!

We also saw more than a hundred ostriches over the day, all the antelope, black and white rhino, a couple of hundred Maribou storks, 10 secretary birds, a family of crowned cranes, Malachite Kingfisher and a bounty of other small creatures and birds.

Lowlights: Trash covered Kingfisher Picnic Site after the public holiday long weekend party and a brazen Sykes monkey stole our banana (out of the car!) at the one picnic area while we were stretching our legs (this might have been a highlight though).

These are the Kenya Wildlife Services park fees.

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At the end of the day, we visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to meet our adopted elephant and put him to bed. We had to drive out of the Banda Gate (get a special letter to exit) and then go down to the elephant orphanage through the secure area.

Goodnight, Ambo!
Goodnight, Ambo!

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A wonderful end to a magical Kenyan trip!

 

Kenya, Travelinds, Travelinds Destinations

Lake Naivasha

September 2016

Lake Naivasha

At the end of our Kenyan adventures, we had a few days left for an unscheduled trip.  After looking at our options, we decided on Lake Naivasha.  This stunning body of water is one of many fresh-water lakes in the Great Rift Valley, bordered by volcanoes and geothermal vents.  There are campsites and resorts along much of the southern shore, as well as flower farms and conservancies.

20160909_130456A Sweet Camping Spot

Thanks to some recommendations from the locals, we headed off in a borrowed 4×4 to pitch our tent at Camp Carnelley’s (beside Fisherman’s).  Set right alongside the beautiful Lake Naivasha, two hours from Nairobi, under the cool shade of giant fever and fig trees, Camp Carnelley’s is a sanctuary – a place to breathe.   We awoke to the sound of twittering of birds and the African Fish Eagles competing for the loudest cries.The Colobus monkeys visited every day at the tip-top of the fig tree that shaded our campsite.  High up in the trees, flocks of birds congregated in a cacophony of chirps and melodies, feasting on the fruit and leaving “presents” on any unsuspecting victims within their trajectory.

The serenity of the days melted into the amplified frog symphonies of the nights, accompanied by the bass of hippo grunts and the cricket serenades.   The hot water showers were open to the sparkling night sky, reminding us gently that we were still under African skies in the wilds of Kenya.20160909_163625

In season, you can see the famous pink flamingo migration (both here and at Nakuru and Bogoria) as they gather at the shore edges and scoop the water with their comical bills.  We’ll have to come back one day!

New Friends

The beauty of travel is all the interesting people you meet along the journey. Travelinds met two sets of new friends on this trip.  The first was a family who had recently moved to Nairobi and spoke German, French and English. They shared their lunch with us, spent the day chatting and having fun; and then we barbecued a delicious fish that we bought from a local fisherman.  The other couple is from the U.K., currently living in Uganda and road-tripping through Kenya! You can catch Alex and Katie at https://tougandablog.wordpress.com/ and https://lifethroughmylens.net/

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”

– Tim Cahill

Kenya, Travelinds, Travelinds Faces

Travelinds Hero: Christopher

September 2016

Kenya is home to a vibrant throng spanning 42 languages that brings cultural diversity to the forefront of this interesting nation. One such character was Mr. Christopher Odinga.

His sand sculpture of a smiling lion rolling on the sand drew us in to his life story and he happily shared his tale of fortitude.  Sitting awkwardly next to his crutches, laid carefully beside him on the sand, he works the sand with his hands and a trowel, paying attention to each groove and surface as he smooths it, fluffs it, cuts it and moulds it. His eyes smile as he talks, vigilant of the waves nearby that will remove all trace of his work in a few hours’ time.20160905_153204

“I am a sculptor now, but I was meant to be a lawyer.  I had enough grades to enter law school but that didn’t work out.  Now I’m too old and I have a family to take care of – my wife can’t work, she has no education.”

When probed a little more, he shared the story of how he came to be here, a polio sufferer with minimal use of his legs, two small children and far from his birthplace near Lake Victoria on the opposite side of the country. “When I was three, I became sick, but my parents thought it was malaria because many people get malaria in that place.  They were illiterate and the walk to any clinic was three days away, so they never took me for any inoculations as a baby.  They left me to recover on my own but when I was too sick to move, they made the journey to seek help but arrived too late to help me.”

He looks a little sad as he describes the transition that he was forced to make as a little boy, sent to Kisumu to a ‘special’ school where others like him were educated and looked after by the Salvation Army.  Pride for his grades and his hard work despite mounting obstacles, he describes his academic achievements and how he was primed to enter law school and pursue his dream at a time when the newly independent Kenya was growing up.  His eyes flash as he indignantly says, “But then the Kenyan management became greedy and corrupt and they took all the money and ran away.  Me and many other people like me were left with nothing, no home, no food, no work and no future.  That is when I started to move towards the bigger cities, using some skills taught at school to create sculptures and oil paintings to make income.”

Me and many other people like me were left with nothing, no home, no food, no work and no future.

The sand lion has pointy triangle teeth and he seems to be grinning up at the sky, his tail bound to flick up at any moment.  Christopher starts to dig a trench around the base, perhaps extending the short life of the grinning lion before the tide sweeps him away.

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“It’s okay.  I met my wife and we have two children.  I make enough money sometimes to buy them clothes and food. But if you have any things you do not want to take home, please give them to me – toothpaste, soap, mosquito repellent for my children, anything.”

His hands stop and he looks down the beach assessing how hopeful his day’s takings look from the number of tourists heading towards him – there are only two.  One ignores him and keeps walking, the other looks at the sculpture, smiles and gives him a few shillings.

“I also do paintings.” He rolls out a small canvas from his tatty backpack.  It is a scene of zebra in front of Mount Kilimanjaro.  “Sometimes tourists can show me their photos and I paint it for them.”  He even frames it, he tells me, and the price is negotiable.  He will make it perfect, he says.  “I paint the picture from memory, in my home, and I will bring it back to you next day.  Pay if you like it.  I do oil painting. Do you have a photo I can paint for you?”

Yes, we did.  Our trip to the Masaai Mara is now forever immortalised by Christopher’s incredible talent – and he mashed two of our pictures to capture our memories in one beautiful piece with acacias, the plains, the wildebeest and the Mara River.  What a privilege to be able to support this man who “hates to beg” and takes pride in his work.  He may be a masterful storyteller, but he delivered on his promise and the look of appreciation in his eyes reflected genuine gratitude as we exchanged our painting for cash.20160903_125816

Do you have any photographs that Christopher can paint for you?  Find him on Facebook next time you are in Diani Beach, Ukunda!

Kenya, Travelinds, Travelinds Destinations

Diani Beach Paradise

September 2016

The waves pound on the soft shoreline, ten kilometres of turquoise ocean framed by black reef and fine white sand.   When the tide is up everybody relaxes, but when the tide goes out, it’s party time!  The wide beach opens right up allowing jogging, swimming, camel rides, kite-surfing, snorkelling, reef exploration, long walks and even a tiny microlight that zooms in and out using the beach as a runway – parachutes gently touching down on the sand were also a regular fixture of the low tide buzz that is Diani Beach.

Diani Beach Bound

Ukunda town is only about thirty kilometres south of Mombasa for a comfortable taxi ride (with Ukunda airport being a convenient touchdown point for those heading south to Diani Beach, Tiwi Beach or Wasini and Shimoni Island).

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Living it up

The number of resorts and restaurants here were surprising, but it is not difficult to see why this is one of Kenya’s best beach tourism destinations – Diani Beach is absolutely stunning!

Diani Beach panoramaSince we were in Kenya having a bunch of ‘first’ experiences, like seeing the magical Masaai Mara and adopting baby elephants, it felt like a good time for our first time at an all-inclusive resort.  Luxury living is almost impossible to come by on a perpetual traveller’s budget, but Kenya made it happen!

Having perused a few awesome resorts, we settled on a week at Diani Sea Lodge, about five minutes down the beach  from the quirky Forty Thieves restaurant.  The hotel is set among beautiful coastal forest, tall coconut palms and lush gardens.  20160906_164923Whitewashed textured walls under the shady reach of enormous trees, where exquisite black Colobus monkeys shake their bushy white manes and call to each other like motorbikes starting up (as Daphne Sheldrick describes in An African Love Story).

Our days were spent on the beach, by the pool, reading books from the library, playing volleyball, darts and coconut shotput; and having an altogether relaxing holiday.

Christopher Odinga

Curious Wildlife

One of the delightful things around Diani Sea Lodge are the birds and animals that call it home.  Colobus, Sykes and Vervet monkeys roam the trees and gardens around, while camels and dogs enjoy their long walks along the beach.  Hedgehogs and Bush Babies rule the night and you wake to the sound of twittering birds greeting the punctual equatorial sunrise.

The locals told us that the KiSwahili word for hedgehog is ‘Kidongo Maria’ because, like Mary the Mother of Jesus, they are thought to be humble and gentle.

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Cultural Colour

Diani Beach is also home to amazingly diverse and talented people; musicians, artists, beach boys, shop keepers, sports enthusiasts and many others, too.  The bargaining platform with persistent sellers seems wide open to interpretation and the banter is all part of the greater struggle against poverty.  20160903_125816Tuk-tuks and bora-boras (motorbikes) crowd the market places in hopes of a good day.

Shawls and sarongs line the bamboo shelves and budding artists create against a backdrop of rhythmic dance and the lifesong of Kenya’s musical people.

One such character was Mr. Christopher Odinga, a local artist and sculptor who makes his living through sand sculptures, tourist-commissioned artworks and if he is lucky, the occasional job sculpting concrete animals for new buildings.

We loved his work and think he deserves hero status – read his story here.

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Diani Beach paradise – you beauty!